Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic diseases associated with high blood sugar, e.g., which may be due to insufficient production of insulin by the body or inadequate response by cells to the insulin that is produced. There are three main types of diabetes mellitus (diabetes). Type 1 diabetes results from the body's failure to produce insulin, and presently requires the person to inject insulin (e.g., manually or using a wearable insulin pump). Type 2 diabetes results from insulin resistance, in which cells fail to use insulin properly, sometimes combined with an absolute insulin deficiency. Types 1 and 2 diabetes are considered chronic conditions that cannot be cured. The third main form, referred to as gestational diabetes, can occur when pregnant women without a previous history of diabetes develop a high blood glucose level, e.g., which can develop into type 2 diabetes, but often resolves after the pregnancy. Other forms of diabetes include congenital diabetes (e.g., due to genetic defects of insulin secretion), cystic fibrosis-related diabetes, steroid diabetes (e.g., due to high doses of glucocorticoids), and other forms of monogenic diabetes.
For example, diabetes, without proper treatment, may cause acute complications, e.g., including hypoglycemia, diabetic ketoacidosis, or nonketotic hyperosmolar coma, or in some instances, may cause serious long-term complications, e.g., cardiovascular disease, chronic renal failure, and/or diabetic retinopathy (retinal damage). Adequate treatment of diabetes is thus important, as well as controlling blood pressure and managing lifestyle factors such as nonsmoking and healthy body weight. Insulin is used to treat the many of the forms of diabetes, including type 1 diabetes. Other medications are used to treat type 2 diabetes.